Four people were taken to area hospitals and traffic was snarled for a couple of hours Thursday evening (Dec. 9) following three accidents on I-55 north of Richardson Road in Arnold, Detective Lt. James Jones said.
Two of the accidents were on southbound I-55, and the other was in the northbound lanes, Jones said.
He said the first of the accidents involved five vehicles and happened at about 6:40 p.m., when a 21-year-old Imperial woman, driving a Chevrolet Cobalt south on I-55, struck the back of a southbound Honda Civic, causing a chain reaction.
The Civic, driven by a 46-year-old St. Louis man, was pushed into the back of a Ford Fusion driven by a 49-year-old Hillsboro woman, and that car was pushed into the back of a Toyota Rav 4 driven by a 55-year-old St. Louis man and finally, the Rav4 was pushed into the back of a Kenworth tanker truck driven by a 58-year-old Benton, Ky., man, Jones said.
The driver of the Cobalt complained of minor injuries to her neck, and the driver of the Fusion had an injury to her forearm, and they both were taken by ambulance to an area hospital, Jones said.
All the vehicles were “extensively damaged” and towed from the scene, Jones said.
Shortly after that accident, another one occurred on northbound I-55.
In that accident, a 20-year-old St. Louis woman was driving a Chrysler Sebring north on I-55 and encountered debris on the interstate, so she swerved to avoid it but lost control and hit the center median before the car bounced back into the traffic lanes and was struck by a northbound Ford Crown Victoria driven by a 59-year-old Crystal City man, Jones said.
He said he wasn’t sure what the debris was but heard that it may have been a couch.
Jones also said he doesn’t know where the debris came from.
He said both the drivers in that accident sustained “non-life threatening injuries” and were taken by ambulance to an area hospital for treatment.
Jones said those two cars also were extensively damaged and towed from the scene.
The last of the accidents was on southbound I-55 and occurred about 7:30 p.m., Jones said.
He said that traffic was slowed because of the previous accidents, and a 35-year-old Festus man driving a Dodge Caravan didn’t stop in time for traffic ahead and the minivan struck the back of a Hyundai Veloster driven by a 63-year-old Barnhart woman.
No injuries were reported for those drivers, and both cars were driven from the scene, Jones said.
He would not release the names of the drivers involved in the accidents.
Jones said the accidents are still under investigation, but he doesn’t think anyone will be cited or arrested in connection with them.
He said there were lane restrictions and congested traffic in the area for two or three hours as a result of those accidents.